New Arrivals

A massive order from All That Is Heavy arrived on Wednesday (with a nice hole in the shipping box thanks to the post office). Mostly new releases from Eagle Twin, Ararat, Yawning Sons, Brant Bjork, YOB, Causa Sui, Circle, and Fu Manchu. ATH included a couple of freebies, self-titled albums by Elder and Sardonis.

January Roundup

I forgot to chronicle my music purchases for January so I'll fix that in February. From Robotic Empire's distro arrived the last full length album from Raccoo-oo-oon. Sad news for me as they've become one of my favorite bands in the past year. Also arriving was Nachmystium's vinly-only release Eulogy IV. It's not as good as they album they released in 2008 but it's still some of the better black metal I've heard.

From All That's Heavy were some fantastic albums. Luckily for me Burning Saviour's debut album has been reissued after missing out on it and then not being able to find a copy elsewhere. I finally was able to pick up Ogre's new album which is an epic 35+ minute track of classic rock inspired traditional doom metal. Some new material from Los Natas has made it's way to a 10" split with side project Solodolor in a nicely done vinyl package. Elektrohasch has reissued Los Natas' epic second album on vinyl as well, 'Cuidad de Brahman'. It's one of my favorite albums of the genre so I had to have it on wax. For a freebie I picked up Abdullah's self-titled album after hearing that they were calling it quits.

On the 7" club front I received the last from Volcom Entertainments 2008 vinyl series, a split between Valient Thorr and HR. Sub Pop's latest in their 3.0 series were two new tracks from Finland's Circle.

Order From All That Is Heavy

Colour Haze's latest album All has finally arrived on double vinyl. Elektrohasch does a great job with their vinyl, making sure that the original analogue recording stays analog. I've been enjoying the album on CD and can't wait to hear it on their best format.

CDs that came included the latest from Peru's La Ira de Dios, Elektrohasch's reissue of Josiah's self-titled album (with two bonus tracks) and Wall Of Sleep's Sun Faced Apostles (as the freebie).

Out Of Town Arrivals

It's been a long time coming but I finally put in order to VHF Records for some CDs. The newer releases included the softmore album from Stephen O'Malley's project Aethenor and the latest from acoustic drone quartet Pelt (who includes the great acoustic guitar player Jack Rose). The older CDs all come from Pelt's back catalog.

Archive CD has done a first and released two new CDs that come with 7" lathe cut records containing edits of the material featured on the CDs. Both Paul Metzger and Michael Gibbons (as 500mg) have two track albums of instrumental music. The lathe cuts sound fantastic and have a different sound from the CD versions. A successful experiment from Archive.

It always seems when I put in an order to All That's Heavy that soon after they'll stock more releases that I want. So I ordered from them the softmore release from Ten East and Gary Arce's new project called Dark Tooth Encounter. A CD from Oak's Mary was thrown in as a freebie.

ATH Order #1

The first order of 2008 from All That's Heavy has arrived. I picked some new 2007 releases and reissues along with a couple of older albums.

They had great deals on the reissues of BigElf's 'Hex' and 'Closer To Doom' that I couldn't pass up. I've been meaning to pick up both of those for years now.

As far as 2007 releases go I bought the new Reverend Bizarre double album which is sadly going to be their final release as a band along with the self-titled debut from The Bakerton Group who is the band Clutch minus their singer/guitar player.

Having just gotten into Reverend Bizarre, I picked up their last album along with a double disc reissue of an older album. For a freebie I finally have Solace's 13 which is now back in print.

Last Order From ATH In 2007?

With a good sized stack of CDs on my desk, I'm hoping I received my last order from ATH for 2007. It's been one of the best years of music since probably 2004. The only new release that I need to get from this year is the latest from Burning Saviours. Other than that I can't think of any more new albums on my "to buy" list. Here's the latest haul:

CDs
Suma - Suma
Rosetta - Wake/Lift
Lento - Earthern (Deluxe Edition) - This is the latest piece of artwork from the Malleus' Supernatural Cat label and the best looking and constructed one yet.
Golden Death Music - Ephemera Blues (freebie)
VA - Road To Nowhere (freebie)

LPs
The Sword / Witchcraft - Split 12"
Burial Chamber Trio - WVRM 10"

ATH Order

Will some new releases out and some excellent deals to be had, an order to the All That's Heavy online shop was due.

New releases from Expo 70 (who I've never heard of but liked the reviews), Truckfighters and The Perfect Rat have come out in the last few weeks. Truckfighters continue to be the best of the new fuzz rock bands that have come out of Sweden. The Perfect Rat features a mix of SST and desert artists like Greg Ginn, Gary Arce and Mario Lalli. An interesting mix that has set to sink in yet. Expo 70 is just a dude playing improvised ambient and drone music with a slew of instruments.

For older albums I picked up Eternal Elysium's two albums on Meteor City. The blend heavy blues rock with psychedelic/stoner rock. After reading some positive reviews and with a very cheap price I also picked up the self-titled album from Sir Hedgehog.

New Releases From Elektrohasch

New releases from German psychedelic rock label Elektrohasch arrived compliments of All That's Heavy. Although not new music, they reissued a pair of albums that came out a few years ago. Recorded by in the late 90s, 'This Is...' by The Beginning gets a reissue treatment with a couple of bonus live tracks. The other reissue is of Electric Orange's 'Platte' which might have been a vinyl only release. Included are a couple of long bonus tracks. The third Elektrohasch album I bought was the debut from The Kings Of Frog Island who feature members of Josiah and The Beginning.

For a freebie I received 'Spit Blood' by The Atomic Bitchwax which includes a sampler from MeteorCity.

All That's Psych?

I had to put in a good sized order to All That's Heavy to pick up some new releases and take advantage of a couple of good deals. New release from two California psychedelic/space rock bands highlight the order.

California's Mammatus and Earthless (my favorite local band) certainly avoid the sophomore slump with the best music they've yet to record.

Another sophomore album, which has been delayed for a long time, comes from the reformed line-up of Sgt. Sunshine. I've read they have a different sound on this one, but I hope it's not too drastically different from their excellent debut.

For the deals, I picked up the first album from Wino's latest band The Hidden Hand along with their split with Wooly Mammoth. For a freebie, I chose Nebula's Dos EPs collection of a few new tracks and two of their older, out of print EPs.

ATH (Again) Plus A Solo Disc

Another order to ATH, enough for a freebie. I order so much I think I might be keeping them in business. The main reason for the order was that Sgt. Sunshine's classic debut album finally came out on vinyl thanks to Elekrohasch. Limited to 500 copies on 180g vinyl, I had to get copy before they are gone. The record sounds awesome and is certainly worth the import price. Also arriving were two more Orange Goblin albums, 'The Big Black' and 'Coup De Grace', to finally complete their full length discography. The debut from Earthride, 'Taming Of The Demons', was also in the order. I still need to get their second LP which I've heard and think was a great album. For the freebie I picked up Autoa's self-titled album. It's on Alone Records and they are instrumental. That's all I know at this point. The description sound good so I'm hoping for a nice surprise.

Having been on a Raccoo-oo-oon kick lately, I've been buying everything they have in print. I found a distro in the States that had the 'Is Night People' remastered CD on Release The Bats. Apparently it was originally on cassette and sold by the band only. RTB is going to be releasing their new album soon.

Yet another order from ATH

That's right, another order from the All That's Heavy webstore has arrived. After getting the new Brant Bjork album 'Tres Dias' in clear yellow wax, I decided to also get it on CD. As a bonus they threw in a promotional postcard signed by Brant. Not wanting to pay the high tax and shipping fees of Southern Lord mailorder nor make a trip down to the record store, I also ordered the new CD/DVD release from Earth titled 'Hibernaculum'. The DVD is a documentary on the band's last European tour and the CD features some remakes and a different mix of their track on the limited Sunn O)))/Earth split LP. I also bought the 10" split from Hypnos 69 and Monkey3. Unfortunately the Monkey3 side is the Ennio Morricone cover from their latest album. But there are two new tracks from Hypnos 69 which might be the last material they'll release since they are no longer a band.

The New Fu

The new Fu Manchu album, 'We Must Obey', arrived today directly from the band. Since they're just up the road it got here way ahead of the street date. It's one of my favorite releases of the year so far. Just some fantastic tunes on this disc. I also pre-ordered this album on clear vinyl which is due in late April/early May.

Also arriving was yet another order from All That's Heavy. I got Acid King's 'III' for very cheap since it was part of their daily deals. I also gambled on a CD by a band called Saturnia titled 'Muzak'. Nik Turner of Hawkwind fame and David Allen from Gong each play on a track. That sample I heard sounded very much like early Pink Floyd. Hopefully it will be another great psych rock album from Elektrohasch Records.

ATH Part 2

It's been a great week of new arrivals. My second order from All That's Heavy arrived along with an order from Robotic Empire. Both shops are excellent when it comes to mailorder.

The following are all CDs and include a couple of new releases:
Baroness - First (EP)
Baroness - Second (EP)
Neurosis - Times Of Grace
Orange Sunshine - Homo Erectus [2005 Reissue]
Orange Sunshine - Love=Acid, Space=Hell
Orange Sunshine - Bullseye Of Being
Reino Ermitaño - Reino Ermitaño
The Hidden Hand - Mother, Teacher, Destroyer
The Hidden Hand - Devoid Of Colour (EP) [2007 Reissue]
The Hidden Hand - The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote
Titan - A Raining Sun Of Light & Love, For You & You & You

ATH Part 1

The first of my two recent orders to All That's Heavy showed up today which included the new 10" from San Diego's Earthless and a CD by the mysterious band Morkobot.

The live set from Earthless includes two excerpts from their 'Sonic Prayer Jam' and features some blistering guitar playing with a solid groove. I might be catching their gig later on in the month.

I know nothing about Morkobot other than they might be a side project from Italy's Ufomammut. The artwork is all hand silk screened from Malleus on thick cardboard-like paper. It's an absolute stunning CD package, one of the best I own. The music is not bad either. Pure instrumental music that ranges the spectrum from heavy to ambient. For more on Malleus' work go here.

Moving Sale

The All That's Heavy online store recently had a moving sale and many of their titles were $5 off. So I picked many discs to fill in my collection. Also arriving very quickly was the new Blood Of The Black Owl album. The first 50 copies came with a reissue of the demo EP on CD-R in separate, handmade packaging. Blood Of The Black Owl was formally known as Svart Ugle, one of the many projects from Chet Scott (Ruhr Hunter, The Elemental Chrysalis, etc.).

Today's massive haul on CD:

Blood Of The Black Owl - 2007 - Blood Of The Black Owl (with demo CD-R limited to 50 copies)
Clutch - 1993 - Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes And Undeniable Truths
Clutch - 1997 - Impetus (EP)
Clutch - 1998 - The Elephant Riders
Clutch - 1999 - Jam Room [2004 Reissue]
Clutch - 2004 - Blast Tyrant
Core - 1999 - The Hustle Is On
Down - 1995 - NOLA
Hawkwind - 1970 - Hawkwind [2001 Reissue]
Hawkwind - 1974 - Hall Of The Mountain Grill [2001 Reissue]
Jesu - 2005 - Jesu
Jesu - 2006 - Silver (EP)
Spirit Caravan - 2003 - The Last Embrace (2 Discs)
The Stooges - 1969 - The Stooges (2 Discs) [2005 Remaster]
The Stooges - 1970 - Fun House (2 Discs) [2005 Remaster]

And the loan LP:

Hey Colossus/dot(.) - Split LP

All That's Heavy Order

I ordered up a couple of the new releases from Elekrohasch along with the new Burning Saviours album which I couldn't find at Lou's Records. I also picked up Rise Above's double CD reissue of the first two Orange Goblin records which contains 3 bonus cuts. Since my order was over $50, I took advantage of their freebie offer and got the debut album by Davana.

Order:
My Sleeping Karma - My Sleeping Karma (CD)
Phased - Medications (CD)
Burning Saviours - Hundus (CD)
Orange Goblin - Time Travelling Blues / Frequencies From Planet Ten (2CD)
Danava - Danava (CD)